~ 10 Tips to look sharp ~ PART I

Eyebrows
Unibrows have never been cool and neither have big bushy caterpillars above each eye. Learn to use a pair of tweezers or sneak into a beauty salon and get one of the ladies to do it for you. The majority of women admit to noticing a man’s eyes first. Guess what sits perched right above those dreamy eyes of yours, soldier? Don’t make her notice you for all the wrong reasons. Check out Wolverine (aka Hugh Jackman) – manly man with spikes coming out of his fists, chest & face full of hair, badass Ace-Ventura hairstyle, and yet, the eyebrows are simple and neat. Coincidence? I think not.

Nails
Very simple, gents – keep ‘em short and clean. If you think your nails might be a bit long, then they probably are. A useful tip is to keep a spare set of nail clippers in your desk drawer at work for those times you’ve left the house in a rush. You don’t want to go into that board meeting hiding your hands in your pockets. To me, long or dirty nails on a bloke means he doesn’t take any pride in himself so he certainly won’t take much pride in anything else that might be considered to be important. Unless you’re a mechanic, you pretty much have no excuse for dirty nails. Oh, and stop biting or chewing your nails – you’re a man, not a boy.

Fresh breath
Simply put, no one enjoys a bad case of halitosis. I’m pretty sure you’re not going to close that big deal you’ve been working on if your breath has the personality of a diesel engine. If simply brushing your teeth doesn’t give you that minty kick you’re looking for, try giving your tongue a gentle scrub to get rid of lingering smells. For the remainder of the day when you can’t use a toothbrush, keep a stash of mints within reach. My personal favourites are a little pack of Fisherman’s Friends – potent little buggers that will also clear your sinuses at the same time.

Clean face
No, not with a bar of Lux soap, but a legit facewash that’s used only for your face. It’ll cost you between R50 and R100 a month depending on what type of face wash you get, but it is seriously so much better than using soap. Soap is designed to clean underarms, smelly feet and hairy butt cracks and not your face. Generally speaking, the skin on your face is more sensitive and is prone to oil secretions, hair growth and not to mention sensitive eyes. Most modern-day facewash products include a bit of protection from sun damage which also helps for those laugh lines that are quickly becoming wrinkles. It’s not rocket science my brothers, it just makes good sense to use a decent facial wash over soap.

Smell like a winner
When it comes to fragrances, less is always more. One of my pet hates about the men’s change room at my local country club is the overpowering smell of deodorants, aftershaves and colognes. I promise you, just because you might not smell your deodorant 5 minutes after spraying it on, doesn’t mean she won’t smell it. Take it easy tiger and hold back on that extra layer of spray-paint deodorant. If you’re a dude who genuinely battles with a sweat problem, then use a quality antiperspirant roll-on or spray. I personally prefer Nivea’s range of sports antiperspirants for the summer months in Durban as they smell great and I never worry about smelly armpits.